When Jeffrey arrived in Switzerland, the fake kidnappers were there to abduct Kelly, but he thought they were the real thing, so he grabbed Kelly and the duo hid out until they could sneak back into the United States. Their many hiding places included a moving van, a college campus and the Abernathy Stables. Slowly but surely, Jeffrey and Kelly fell in love. Eventually, Kelly was cleared of the charge that she killed Dylan.

At first Jeffrey was a man surrounded by a clout of mystery, as he seemed to resent Kelly's half brother, Mason, and had a signet ring that was identical to the one Mason wore. In the end, Jeffrey revealed that he was Mason's half brother and that their mother, Pamela, committed suicide because she was terminally ill. Jeffrey blamed Mason for ignoring Pamela's letters before her death, but the real culprit turned out to be C.C. Meanwhile, Jeffrey was given a lab job by Dr. Alex Nikolas. Since they all loved Pamela, Mason, Jeffrey and Alex plotted to get revenge against C.C. When Kelly found out, she broke with Jeffrey. He managed to win her back by dressing up in a suit of armor. He then started working in advertising with Kelly at Delta Pharmaceuticals.

Suspicious of Jeffrey, C.C. drove him out of town for a while by threatening to tell Kelly that Jeffrey was suspected of murdering his wife, who died in a car crash in England. According to Jeffrey, his deceased wife Elizabeth was mentally ill and caused her own death. However, Kelly couldn't help having doubts about her lover, especially when several attempts were made on her life during the duo's search for Mason in the desert. The matter was soon resolved. Meanwhile, Jeffrey and Kelly moved into a lovely cottage and became engaged. Later, Jeffrey was reunited with his mother Pamela, who wasn't dead after all. In November 1987, Jeffrey and Kelly finally tied the knot. Jeffrey left Delta for a position at Pamela's newly-acquired oil rig.

Soon after their wedding, Jeffrey and Kelly had problems when Pamela kept meddling in the Capwells' lives. Kelly became pregnant, but lost the baby and subsequently had an affair with ex-gigolo T.J. Daniels. Around the same time, Jeffrey was shot by a stranger at Johnny's Place.

Realizing that his marriage was over, Jeffrey slept with a torch singer named Illiana. By then, both Jeffrey and T.J. were sick of being used by Kelly, so they plotted together to cash in on her life insurance policy. When Jeffrey pulled out of the scheme, T.J. revealed he had tapes that proved Jeffrey's involvement in the plot. The two men got into a fight over these tapes and T.J. knocked Jeffrey unconscious, sending him into a catatonic state.

As soon as Jeffrey recovered, T.J. pressured him to push Kelly off the train during her family's celebration on New Year's Eve. Jeffrey pushed T.J. off instead and believed him to be dead. As 1989 began, Jeffrey and Kelly got divorced and he left town.